On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. The Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar Republican Guard Divisions attacked from the north down the Basra highway, while the Medina [Al Madina Al Munawara - Medina the Luminous] and Tawakalna Republican Guard Divisions attacked from the west across the Wadi al-Batin. The operation was planned in detail and well organized. The Iraqis had used four Republican Guard divisions to seize Kuwait. By early September 1990 these divisions had returned to their preinvasion locations in southeastern Iraq and less-capable Army divisions had been deployed to replace them.

Iraqi leaders failed to anticipate the "left hook " and apparently did not realize the Coalition would invade into southern Iraq.Once the Iraqi leadership apparently did learn of VII and XVIII Corps ' advance from the west, the Republican Guard Tawakalna Mechanized Infantry Division was assigned a rear guard action to allow the Republican Guard Medina and Hammurabi Armored divisions to make good their withdrawal toward Basrah.

On 27 February VII Corps conducted a coordinated main attack against the three mechanized Republican Guard Divisions - the Tawakalna, the Al-Madinah, and the Hammurabi. As this operation began, the 1st Infantry Division, in the south of the Corps zone, conducted a night passage through the 2nd ACR, and immediately engaged the Iraqi forces. To the north, the 1st and 3rd Armored divisions attacked to the east and the 1st Cavalry Division attacked on the northern flank to prevent an Iraqi breakout in that direction. With the Iraqis set up, the massed maneuver elements of VII Corps struck one decisive blow after another. In other sectors, Iraqi elements broke and ran. Here, they stood and fought.

On 27 February 1991 the American 1st Armored divisionfought remnants of the Iraqi Tawakalna, Al-Madinah and Adnan Republican Guards Divisions about 50 miles east of Al Busayyah. In one of several large engagements along the advance, the American 2d Brigade, 1st Armored Division, received artillery fire and then proceeded to destroy not only those artillery batteries but also 61 tanks and 34 armored personnel carriers of the Madina Division in less than one hour.

The 3d "Phantom" Brigade, 3d Infantry Distinguished itself as the Advanced Guard Brigade of the 1st Armored Division during offensive operations against the Iraqi Republican Guard Forces Command (RGFC) during Operation Desert Storm from 24 to 28 February 1991. On 27 February, the 3d Brigade was ordered to transition to pursuit operations to establish contact with and destroy the RGFC forces in zone. As the Brigade attacked and fought through the Adnan Division, securing a RGFC major logistics base, it captured 465 EPW's and made contact with the Medinah Armored Division, which was augmented by elements of four other Iraqi divisions.

On 27 February 1991 remnants of Iraqi operational and theater reserve forces west and south of Al-Basrah attempted to defend against heavy pressure from the Coalition. Remaining elements of the 10th Armored Division linked up with the remains of the RGFC Al-Madinah Division just north of the Iraq-Kuwait border and attempted, unsuccessfully, to defend against advancing US forces.

As of 1997 the Medina [Madinah] Division was assigned to the protection of Baghdad.

As of February 1997 it was reported that the Republican Guard Al-Madeena Al-Munawara Armored Division had been placed under alert to deploy. One of its Armored Brigades was deployed in Al-Rashdiya, while the others are at Al-Taji Military Camp. By early March 1997 the Republican Guard's 10th Armored Brigade (attached to the Republican Guard's Al-Madeena Al-Munawarra Forces based at Al-Taji in Baghdad), has also arrived at Nahiyat Al-Rabee'. By October 1997 Iraqi Republican Guard units had built up in the area of Makhmur, 30 km southwest of Arbil. The Medina Al Munawara armoured division and the Adnan mechanised infantry division moved to the area with 200 tanks, four battalions of heavy artillery and over 10,000 troops.

As of early 1999 the "Al-Medina Al-Munawera" [Medina the Luminous] Forces Command (Quwat Al-Medina Al-Munawera Hares Jimhouri), under the command of the Allahu Akbar Forces-Northern Corps, was based between Al-Taji and Al-Rasheediya.

Opposition sources claimed in January 1999 that the losses inflicted on Saddam's regime during Operation "Desert Fox" included 21 killed among officers and other ranks, with 87 wounded. Destruction or damage to 31 tanks and armored vehicles. The destruction of the armory belonging to the "Al-Medina Al-Munawera" Forces, as well as the destruction of 19 anti-aircraft targets.

In mid-September 2002 U.S. satellites detected two brigades of the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Division leaving their bases near Taji, north of Baghdad. The units appeared to be moving out to locations that are less vulnerable to US attack.

2003 Battle of Baghdad

Date :

April 03, 2003 – April 12, 2003

Location :

Baghdad,Iraq

Result :

Decisive U.S. victory, fall of Baath Party's power

Belligerents

Iraqi ArmyIraqi Republican Guard*

U.S.ArmyUSMC

Strength

45,000

30,000

Casualties and losses

2,320 killed

34 killed : several hundred wounded

T-72 Medium Tank

The T-72 medium tank is a combat tracked vehicle with high cross-country manoeuvrability. It is intended for destruction of tanks and other armoured targets, or enemy manpower. Using its 12.7mm NSV anti-aircraft machine-gun, it can destroy low flying targets. It provides protection against pressure wave and NBC weapons. Its main armament is a 125 mm smoothbore gun, stabilized in two guiding planes, with maximum effective firing range of 4,500 m and a rate of fire of up to 8 shots in a minute. Moreover, it is fitted with a coaxial 7.62mm PKT machine-gun.

The T-72, which entered production in 1971, was first seen in public in 1977. The T-72, introduced in the early 1970s, is not a further development of the T-64, but rather a parallel design chosen as a high-production tank complementing the T-64. The T-72 retains the low silhouette of the T-54/55/62series, featuring a conventional layout with integrated fuel cells and stowage containers which give a streamlined appearance to the fenders. While the T-64 was deployed only in forward-deployed Soviet units, the T-72 was deployed within the USSR and exported to non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies and several other countries.

The Russian T-72 main battle tank was produced at the Malyshev HMB Plant, based in Kharkov, Ukraine and at UKBM Nizhny Tagil, Russian Federation. In addition to production in the USSR it has been built under license in Czechoslovakia, India, Poland and the former Yugoslavia.

The T-72, which came into service in the late 1970s, was successfully met by the Israelis in Lebanon in 1982. Armed with a long-barreled, smooth-bored 125mm gun and with a three-man crew, the T-72 at 45 tons (41,000 kg) is considerably lighter than the American M60A1. Both tanks have six road wheels on a side but the T-72 with its squat hull and long-barreled gun is distinctive in silhouette from the M-60, with its more massive turret.

DESCRIPTION:

The T-72 medium tank is similar in general appearance to the T-64.

The T-72 has six large, die-cast, rubber-coated road wheels and three track return rollers. It has a 14-tooth drive sprocket and a single-pin track with rubber-bushed pins.

The gunner's IR searchlight is mounted to the right of the main gun. The 12.7-mm NSV anti-aircraft machine gun has a rotating mount, and there is no provision for firing it from within the tank. There are normally only a few small stowage boxes on the outside of the turret, and a single short snorkel is stowed on the left side of the turret.

The T-72 has a larger engine compartment than the T-64, and the radiator grill is near the rear of the hull.

CAPABILITIES:

The T-72 has greater mobility than the T-62. The V-12 diesel engine has an output of 780 hp. This engine appears to be remarkably smoke-free and smooth-running, having eliminated the excessive vibration which was said to cause high crew fatigue in the T-62. Although the engine is larger than that of the T-64, the heavier (41 mt) T-72 is believed to have approximately the same road speed as the T-64. The T-72B1 is powered by a multi-fuel V-12 piston air-cooled 840 hp engine that will run on three fuels: Diesel, Benzene or Kerosene. Two 200-liter auxiliary fuel drums can be fitted on the rear of the hull.

The T-72 can be fitted with a snorkel for deep fording, and takes about 20 minutes to prepare for amphibious use.

The T-72 has better armor protection than the T-62, due to the use of layered armor and other features of the T-64. The advanced passive armor package of the T-72M and T-72M1 can sustain direct hits from the 105mm gun equipped M1 Abrams at up to 2,000 meter range. The later T-72Ms and T-72M1s are equipped with laser rangefinders ensuring high hit probabilities at ranges of 2,000 meters and below. The turret has conventional cast armor with a maximum thickness of 280-mm, the nose is about 80-mm thick and the glacis is 200-mm thick laminate armor. Besides the PAZ radiation detection system, the T-72 has an antiradiation liner (except on export models) and a collective NBC filtration and overpressure system.

The T-72 has the same integral smoke generating capability as earlier T-54/55/62, tanks, and variants have been observed with smoke grenade projectors mounted on the front of the turret.

The T-72 employs the same armament, ammunition, and integrated fire control as the T-64. The low, rounded turret mounts a 125mm smooth bore gun with a carousel automatic loader mounted on the floor and rear wall of the turret. The 125mm gun common to all the T-72 models is capable of penetrating the M1 Abrams armour at a range of up to 1,000 meters.

The more recent BK-27 HEAT round offers a triple-shaped charge warhead and increased penetration against conventional armors and ERA. The BK-29 round, with a hard penetrator in the nose is designed for use against reactive armor, and as an MP round has fragmentation effects. If the BK-29 HEAT-MP is used, it may substitute for Frag-HE (as with NATO countries) or complement Frag-HE. With three round natures (APFSDS-T, HEAT-MP, ATGMs) in the autoloader vs four, more antitank rounds would available for the higher rate of fire.

The infra-red searchlight on the T-72 is mounted on the right side of the main armament, versus on the left on the earlier T-64. The 1K13-49 sight is both night sight and ATGM launch sight. However, it cannot be used for both functions simultaneously. A variety of thermal sights is available. They include the Russian Agava-2, French SAGEM-produced ALIS and Namut sight from Peleng. Thermal gunner night sights are available which permit night launch of ATGMs.

T-72B : has the thickened frontal turret armor and is commonly known in the United States as the Dolly Parton.

T-72BK: Commander's variant with additional radios

T-72BM: Version with 2nd Generation Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor similar to that on the T-90. This system is being fielded and is available for export.

T-72M: Original Polish and former-Czechoslovakian T-72-series tank from which Polish/Czechoslovakian T-

72M1 was derived. T-72M differs from T-72 in replacing the right-side coincident rangefinder with a centerline-mounted TPDK-1 LRF.

T-72M1: Russian export version and Polish/Czechoslovakian counterparts. Versions with Kontact ERA are known as T-72AV /T-72 M1V. Some countries have inventories of T-72, T-72M and T-72M1, with different versions of each variant. Also, many variants were upgraded or modified. Some T-72M1s do not have smoke grenade launchers or track skirts. Some T-72s/T-72Ms have smoke grenade launchers. More reliable discriminators are armor and rangefinder/FCS.

T-72S/Shilden: Russian export T-72A upgraded to be comparable to the T-72BM standard. Although similar to the T-72BM, it may have less turret front protection. The early T-72S tank has Kontakt ERA.

T-72BV: with explosive reaction armor packages fitted to the hull and turret. The glacis plate is covered with a layer of single ERA blocks while the turret is covered by one, two or three layers with one being the more usual.T-72SUO: Ukrainian modernization aimed at updating combat ant technical features early produces T-72s by mounting sophisticated fire control system, dynamic protection, power unit with significantly enhanced engine. It enables to level the tanks features with those of sophisticated examples, while the cost will be radically diminished.

Javelin Antitank Missile

The Javelin is a manportable, fire-and-forget, antitank missile employed by dismounted infantry to defeat current and future threat armored combat vehicles. Javelin is intended to replace the Dragon system in the Army and the Marine Corps. JAVELIN has significant improvements over DRAGON.

The Javelin's range of approximately 2,500 meters is more than twice that of its predecessor, the Dragon. The Javelin has secondary capabilities against helicopters and ground-fighting positions. It is equipped with an imaging infrared (I2R) system and a fire-and-forget guided missile. The Javelin's normal engagement mode is top-attack to penetrate the tank's most vulnerable armor. It also has a direct-attack capability to engage targets with overhead cover or in bunkers. Its "soft launch" allows employment from within buildings and enclosed fighting positions. The soft launch signature limits the gunner's exposure to the enemy, thus increasing survivability. JAVELIN is also much more lethal than DRAGON. It has a top attack dual warhead capability which can defeat all known enemy armor systems.

The Javelin is a tactical precision engagement system that enhances the Army's ability to dominate the ground maneuver battle. The Javelin's impact on scout capabilities will be significant. It will allow dismounted scouts to execute reconnaissance and combat patrols with a relatively lightweight thermal sight. It will also give dismounted patrols the capability of dealing with unexpected armored vehicle threats. (Scouts, however, will not use the Javelin to seek out and destroy enemy armor in offensive operations.)

The Javelin consists of a missile in a disposable launch tube and a reusable Command Launch Unit (CLU) with a trigger mechanism and the integrated day/night sighting device for surveillance, and target acquisition and built-in test capabilities and associated electronics. The CLU, powered by a disposable battery, provides the capability for battlefield surveillance, target acquisition, missile launch, and damage assessment.

The Javelin's CLU provides battlefield surveillance and target acquisition capabilities. The Javelin night vision sight (NVS) is a passive I2R system. The NVS enables observation of things that are not normally visible to the human eye. It receives and measures IR light emitted by the environment. The NVS converts the IR light into an image for the gunner.

The IR image also allows the gunner to identify enemy armor targets, his first priority to engage and destroy. Javelin gunners must identify battlefield combatants at night based on the images seen in the NVS. The gunners must distinguish friends from foes to preclude fratricide. The Night Vision Laboratory has developed materials to train Javelin gunners to identify friends and targets based on their IR images.

The round consists of a disposable launch tube assembly, battery coolant unit (BCU), and the missile. Missile range is 2000 meters. The missile locks on to the target before launch using an infrared focal plane array and on-board processing, which also maintains target track and guides the missile to the target after launch. A full-up system weighs 49.5 pounds.